The David Mathews Center for Civic Life receives Alabama Humanities Recovery Grant

This grant is one of 83 distributed statewide by the Alabama Humanities Alliance to help cultural organizations bounce back from the pandemic.

The David Mathews Center for Civic Life has earned a $10,000 competitive Alabama Humanities Recovery Grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance. This award will assist with the execution of a 2022 Alabama Civic Health Index.

“The Alabama Civic Health Index looks at key indicators of civic life in Alabama; how conscientious Alabama citizens are of their family, friends, and neighbors; how engaged they are politically; and how they engage in civic organizations and group activities. Through these measures we can assess, evaluate, and reflect on a fuller picture of Alabama’s civic health—not just in terms of voting in elections, but how individuals are connecting with family and friends, working together to solve problems, and contributing their time and talents to their communities.” —2011 Alabama Civic Health Index

In 2011, the Mathews Center partnered with the National Conference on Citizenship, the University of Alabama, and Auburn University to create the first Alabama Civic Health Index. Data collected from each US Census reveals how Alabamians interact with their communities in a variety of ways. Read the previous Alabama Civic Health Index reports from 2011 and 2015.

The Mathews Center is one of 83 organizations to receive an Alabama Humanities Alliance grant this September. In all, the Alabama Humanities Alliance is distributing $800,000 to help cultural nonprofits recover from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We at the Mathews Center are excited and appreciative to be one of the many organizations chosen as a recipient of this grant. We are especially grateful to our Development Director Loren Gary for making this happen,” said Rachel Naftel Mosness, DMC Executive Director.

Alabama Humanities Recovery Grants are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. These grants were made available to Alabama-based nonprofits with a demonstrated commitment to public humanities programming. Grantees include community cornerstones such as museums, libraries, archives, historic sites and more.